The Beginner's Guide To Brew Your Own Kombucha

So #eatclean and #stayfit is your goal in 2k15 and you're running out of money to support your ~~*groovy hippie*~~ lifestyle because organic foods and drinks are SO expensive.

Don't give up just yet, go dump diving or something. Or make your own kombucha!

Kombucha is loaded with health benefits which you can google or click here to educate yo'self. 

Kombucha is a fermented tea drink so it's basically good for your guts. And it's cheap and easy to make! I'm super clumsy and my life is a series of unfortunate events -but if I can make my own kombucha, I guess you can too!

You'll need:

- glass container

-coffee filter/paper towel/towel to cover the brew

-elastics to secure

-black tea bags or loose (you can choose other tea, but black tea is best)

-white sugar (do not use other sweetener, honey or agave!)

-water

-kombucha mushroom, also known as SCOBY or Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast, I know this sounds really gross and scary but it is a magical createur that will transform regular sweet black tea into a liquid health goodness (I get mine from eBay, or you can ask around a hippie community? You can make your own SCOBY from kombucha liquid but let's face it, ain't nobody got time for that!)

-starter liquid which can be kombucha you get from stores or use vinegar and water

What you need to do:

-disinfect your container with boiling water and vinegar, let cool

-boil a liter of water

-add around 8 grams of tea (1 tsp = 3 gr), a tea bag is normally 2 gr

-let seep for 15 mins

-add in the sugar, about 100gr (1 Tsp=20 gr)

-let the tea cool completely (!)

-pour the tea+sugar mixture to the container (strain if you use loose tea)

-add in a cup of the starting liquid (either kombucha or vinegar+water)

-with a clean hand (wash with warm water and vinegar) out the SCOBY into the container

-cover the container and use elastics to secure

-place the container in warm, dark place. like your ex lover's heart?! -I mean kitchen would be ideal but i have flatmates and I don't want them to see the SCOBY and freak out, so I keep it in my room.

-you may check your brew after 1 week, try if the taste is to your liking

-you can let it brew for 1-2 weeks (until the taste is ok for you), 3 weeks max because it probably will get too sour to drink

-so if you like the taste of your kombucha you can remove the SCOBY and the newly formed baby SCOBY (everytime you brew kombucha, the SCOBY will give birth to a cute bby gremlin of SCOBY)

and drink it. Or...

-if you want to have your booch fizzy because you're craving soda, you need a second fermentation in which you remove the SCOBY off the kombucha drink and store it in an air-tight bottles. You can also put different flavors if you wish when bottling your kombucha. Use thinly chopped ginger, or frozen fruits and your imagination - the options are endless!

-put the bottle in warm dark place and let it ferment for few days (2-14 days)

-when you like the taste you can strain it or drink it right away.

-store in fridge to stop the fermentation.

-enjoy your own brewed kombucha and instagram it and brag about it at the next dinner party and brew some more and give it to all your friends!

*do not use metal object like spoon or fork to discard the SCOBY or to taste the brew

*it's totally cool if the SCOBY is floating on top, sideways or make itself comfy at the bottom of the container or have like brown strings attached to it, however if you see molds: abort the mission! Discard everything and start from the beginning with a new, healthy SCOBY and be more careful, also: revise your life.

*use the baby SCOBY for your next brew, the mama SCOBY still can be used or stored with a bit of kombucha liquid before you use it again

*I would gladly share my SCOBY baby if you're interested in brewing your own kombucha

*because of the fermentation, kombucha gonna contain a tiny bit of alcohol (about 1%), not that you need to worry about it, but I just feel like putting it out there.

*I got my glass container and bottle from Ikea (the Korken series), about 2,50 euro each.

*use organics if possible, but normal black tea and sugar works perfectly fine too.

*singing Ed Sheeran songs to your kombucha will not make it sweeter - the shorter the brew period the sweeter it will taste. The longer you let it brew, the more sugar will be consumed by the SCOBY. 

*happy brewing!

the SCOBY floating on top // day one of brewing

how to: super cute lipscrub

you need ONLY 3 ingredients that you most probably already have in your kitchen if you're a normal human being:

-4 tbs castor sugar

-2 tbs organic (lol) coconut oil

-a drop of food coloring (optional)

mix shit up, transfer&store into a cute teeny jar, voila! you got yourself a cute lipscrub that is comparable to lush product with fraction of the price! without even leaving the house! you can practically making these in your undies while watching seinfeld.

put about a pea sized of product into yr lips, scrub scrub for about 3 mins, while doing that go on and listen to ed sheeran to achieve the maximal soothing effect, when you're done scrubbin' wipe off the residue with a tissue OR just lick it off. I did and haven't died yet, plus it's tasty.

The scrubbin' get your lips smooth and the tiny bit swelling is great because your lips would feel fuller and looks hot like kylie jenner's --only, like way natural.

you can of course get creative and use brown sugar, olive oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil if you don't have coconut oil on hand. i bet adding peppermint extract would be great as well, or cinnamon (because it helps to make the lips plumper).

snake(fruit) skins

Hello!
This is my new enevelope clutch I made today. I've always wanted one but couldn't afford it. Few days a go I went to a thrift shop to found a midi faux leather skirt for 50 cent! -which I know I wouln't wear anyway, but then I came to the idea to transform it into something I'd like / wearable.

My clutch isn't perfect, infact i just cutted the material into a rectangular form, fold it like an envelope and glue it (too lazy to sew~~) et voila, a new tres beau little bag that is able to carry the necessaries : money/wallet, keys, phone, and a pair of sunglasses!

Btw the leather fabric reminds me alot of salak aka snake fruit, which makes the bag looks cool and at the same time reminds me a lot of my home country where snake fruits are everywhere.

how-to : newspaper nails

you'll need :

-base coat and/or nail polish

-top coat

-newspaper, cut in small pieces (nail sizes)

-alcohol (like rubbing alcohol, but i used vanilla vodka :p)

first thing, you have to clean your hands. and then you can dip your finger in the alcohol. while your nail still wet, place a newspaper piece onto it and press down for a few seconds. peel off and you may see the newspaper ink is transferred to your nail! if you want this to last, ofcourse then you need to layer it with a top coat. repeat to other nails. :)

DIY // HOW TO tattoo tights --> Cross tights // Skeleton tights

HOW TO :

-wear your panthose
-start free-drawing on the pantyhose's surface
-wait until the paint dry, take it off
-slip newspaper/some cartons inside each pantyhose's leg
-repaint to achieve the vivid black color for your cross (or anything you'd like to draw)
-wait until it dry again
-apply top coat on your crosses!
-ta-dah, you're done!

so this is how it looks like when i wear it :

I also made DIY skeleton tights. It is basically the same method as to make the cross-tights one, except that I used google to find skeleton legs images as my template / inspiration.
So choose whatever motive for the tattoo tights. Have fun!

DIY Zebra x Cross Fringe Shirt

what you need :

-a plain shirt (you can get from basic section @ h&m or other fastfashion retails)

-needle & thread and some pins or a sewing machine

-zebra patterned fabric (i got mine from cutting off my old shirt)

-paper for making patern

-time & patience

-draw a big cross on the paper, cut

-apply on the fabric, cut cut cut

-put the cross shaped fabric on the center of your shirt, pinning it would help, a lot

-start sewing

-finish sewing lol

-at this point you shoukd have cross embed on your shirt, which is cool. you can stop now and wear your "new" shirt proudly.

-but if you are up for something crazier (wut?) you can cut off the seam of the shirt and start cutting stripes vertically. lol is this even understandable?

-when your done, pull the fringe with all the super power in you.

-wear the shirt and start helping people in need!

***update***
i'm selling this shirt. if you're interested please let me know (comment or message me)

homemade chai tea kit [updated]

what you'll need :
-container box (you can find one in the hardware store or ikea maybe??)
-tea (here i put black tea, peppermint tea, and indonesian jasmine tea)
-herbs/spices : ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, blackpepper corn, fennel, or like anything you want? (i bought spices from asia supermarket)
-sugar (brown could be better, but i only have white sugar so it's sugar too and sweet)

i'm actually not done with this project (project??? lol). need to make the recipe sheet and and diagram to tell which spice on each box.

giving this for my boyfriend's mom for christmas. i hope she'll swoon over this. or hug me. or just think of how awesome i am? ok maybe if she'll actually make chai tea with my kit i would sob.

so i printed the photo/diagram and wrote chai recipe on the back and tied it all together.
going to my boyfriend's family tomorrow. i am nervous.

(inspiration by rookie magazine.)
click here for recipe!